Chapter 986: The First Appearance of Emperor Ru Yan

Buying a metal lighter isn’t a one-time purchase; once you use it, you’ll inevitably need to refill fuel, replace the wick, change the flint, and so on.

It’s like buying a handheld game console or a fishing rod—you soon realize this is just the beginning, and the money spent on subsequent gear may far exceed the cost of the device itself.

The ongoing costs of a metal lighter may not be as high as those for photography or fishing, but they remain a steady annual expense for anyone selling lighters.

Faced with the aggressive challenges from young talents across nations, the three academic superstars who had never feared the Ruolun Exam were utterly dismantled.

Perhaps because Li family’s younger generation rarely produces outstanding talents; if they came, they’d only bring shame—better not come at all.

As for talent, isn’t his Shadow Clan inferior to Luo Tianxiang’s? As the top-ranked on the Tian Gang List of the True Martial Holy Academy, hadn’t he himself abandoned the chance to advance to True Martial, all to accumulate more opportunities in this ancient battlefield realm, laying the foundation for his future path?

Of course, he surrendered—but Meng TianTu wouldn’t be so foolish as to admit what he’d done or beg Su Ye to spare him and keep his shameful deeds secret.

After hearing Lan Haixun’s words, Xi Yongchao’s face slowly broke into a smug smile; just as Lan Haixun had said, this was Changzhou—their territory, where even dragons must coil and tigers must lie down.

The speaker was a middle-aged man whose brow bore a faint resemblance to Lan Zhenyue; he was Lan Zhenyue’s third uncle, Lan Wanglou, a guest alchemist of the Liangcheng Tianbao Trading Association, and the white-robed elder he pointed to was Feng Master, the association’s highest-ranked alchemist.

“Take her away!” After finding these items, Kou Xiao ordered his operations team to take Liu Jiajia away.

The piercing pain made Yu Zheng grimace—he had been injured, wounded by someone of Qi Condensation Eighth Layer, an utter humiliation for Yu Zheng.

But—even so—he felt a mountain-like pressure bearing down on him; in his weakened state, had he not been inside the Star Soul Tomb, he would have already been obliterated.

Situ Yaru glared at Chu Haoran and threatened, “If you dare lay a hand on me, I… I’ll fight you to the death!” Then she hugged the pile of invitations, blushing, and ran upstairs.

But outside, they had already discovered the way in, so they didn’t sit idle; soon they brought in a group of cultivators at the Ninth Layer and provided them with suitable spiritual armors for protection.

Later rumors claimed someone had seen this blade on Mount Hua, but these were merely rumors; countless martial artists had gone to Mount Hua to steal it and returned empty-handed, proving the tale false.

And the system known as Dunyi Hongmeng flew toward the newly blessed future Ma Xingkong, circling above his head, and absorbed the newly born system halo.

“Come out—you’re chosen: the Mutated Black Mountain Demon.” Jian Xiake waved his hand and summoned the Mutated Black Mountain Demon.

“Hmph, who are you to accuse the Young Master of this sect? You demons, instead of cowering in your caves, dare to rampage in Baoxiang Kingdom? I’ll flay your skins and tear your tendons! What are you standing there for? Attack!” Xue Taiji said.

“Alright, I’ll ask you: you’ve been married to the Empress for two years—have you ever even touched her?” Princess Pingyang asked.

Fortunately, Yan Ge intervened in time and eliminated the anomaly; otherwise, not only would Grandma’s illness have gone untreated, but I might have been affected too.

Wang Hao’s body radiated faint system energy; he wriggled under the covers for about fifteen minutes but still couldn’t locate Ling Wei’s system particles.

After that frantic run, his chest felt as if thousands of needles were piercing it, cold sweat poured from his forehead, and his upper and lower eyelids kept fighting to close.